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Practical guides, family trips, local places, food, history and the things worth knowing before you go — from Nashville to Chattanooga and across the state.
Montgomery County Confirms Its First CWD Case—What Changes for Deer Hunters?
A single deer has changed the hunting rules in Montgomery County. But not in the way some hunters might expect. Tennessee wildlife officials confirmed the county’s first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) on November 6,…
Read storyUseful Tennessee stories, not just travel lists.
Real Tennessee is about helping you figure out what a place is actually like before you spend your time or money on it. Some stories come from trips with my family. Others dig into places, events and ideas across the state that are worth knowing about.
Tennessee, Firsthand
Personal visits. Family adventures. Stories from experience.
Come along on my trips around Tennessee, with personal photos, honest impressions and practical details from places I’ve visited with my family.
Aquarium Restaurant Nashville With Kids: Our Family Visit
At most Nashville restaurants, the most exciting thing that moves past your table is the dessert cart. At the Aquarium Restaurant at Opry Mills, it’s a shark. The entire dining room wraps around a 200,000-gallon saltwater…
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Gaylord Opryland With Kids: Why Our Family Keeps Going Back
There’s a river inside this hotel. You can ride a boat on it, under a glass roof, past waterfalls and restaurants, without ever stepping outside. Gaylord Opryland Resort has 2,888 rooms and nine acres of indoor…
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SoundWaves at Gaylord Opryland With Kids: Why Our 5-Year-Old Loved It Even Though He Couldn’t Swim
Our 5-year-old couldn’t swim without armbands. It was my biggest worry before we booked. It turned out not to matter at all. We live in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles from Nashville, so we almost never book…
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Visiting Ruby Falls With Kids: Our Chattanooga Day Trip Inside Lookout Mountain
In 1928, a chemist digging for one cave inside Lookout Mountain broke into a different one by accident. He crawled through it in the dark for 17 hours. At the end, he found a waterfall pouring…
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Riding the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway With Kids: Our Chattanooga Day Trip
At its steepest, this train climbs a 72.7% grade. It’s the steepest passenger railway in North America, and it’s been hauling people up the side of Lookout Mountain since 1895. I wasn’t sure how our two…
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Fresh from across Tennessee
Scenic Train Rides in Tennessee Compared by Price and Route
$26 buys you 65 minutes and a turntable demonstration in Chattanooga. $90 buys you nine hours of steam power through the Georgia countryside. Tennessee has eight different scenic train rides, and the price doesn’t always tell…
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Amtrak and Train Travel Options for Tennessee Residents
Nashville is a city of more than 700,000 people, and you can’t catch an Amtrak train there. Neither can you in Knoxville or Chattanooga. In all of Tennessee, only two stations have Amtrak trains: Memphis and…
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State reports nearly 70 rescues as southeast Tennessee responds to severe flooding. Here’s what we know
The Ocoee River had fallen below action stage. Copperhill households still had to work out which water they could drink. That gap matters. A river reading describes the river. It cannot tell you whether your tap…
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New Year’s Eve 2026 in Tennessee: Free Countdowns, Dinner Trains and Midnight Parties
The Island in Pigeon Forge has a free countdown at noon. Beale Street saves its fireworks for midnight—and its celebration is strictly 21 and older. For December 31, 2026, welcoming 2027, the options range from a…
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Escaped Tennessee Bobcat T’challa Is Home Safe. Here’s Why He Needs Permanent Care
T’challa cleared a fence fitted with a hot wire. He still needed a familiar person to bring him home. The escaped bobcat from For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue in Chattanooga’s East Brainerd area was found in…
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Tennessee Waterfalls to Visit in Winter: Access, Trails, and Conditions
Fall Creek Falls drops 256 feet, and in winter you can see it without hiking a single step of trail. That’s the secret to Tennessee waterfalls in the cold months: bare trees open up the views,…
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Start with what you are looking for, then find the guides, places and stories that fit your trip.
Built around actually knowing the place.
I have lived in Tennessee since 2012 and spend a lot of time exploring the state with my wife and two boys. Real Tennessee is where I share those experiences alongside useful guides to places around Nashville, Chattanooga, East Tennessee and beyond.
The goal is simple: give you enough useful information to decide what is worth doing and make your trip easier when you get there.
More about Real TennesseeMeet the Writer
One Tennessee local, a family that loves exploring, and plenty of places still to discover.
since 2012
Alex Hawker
Originally from Australia, I have called Tennessee home since 2012. I explore the state with my wife and two boys, sharing family trips, small-town finds, food, music and the places that make Tennessee special. There is always another road to take and something new to discover.
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